Bridging Theories for Ecosystem Stability Through Structural Sensitivity Analysis of Ecological Models in Equilibrium

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Theoretical Ecology
• Ecosystem Dynamics

Background:

• Ecologists need to synthesize diverse theories for ecosystem understanding in a changing world.
• Food web theory and regime shift theory offer different perspectives on ecosystem stability.
• The relationship between empirical food web model stability and ecosystem collapse vulnerability remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how alternative model formulations affect ecosystem stability properties.
• To analyze the relationship between empirical food web models and regime shift dynamics.
• To address the challenge of integrating different ecological modeling approaches.

Main Methods:

• Structural sensitivity analyses of consumer-resource models.
• Comparison of models with non-proportional versus proportional interaction terms.
• Maintaining equilibrium biomass densities and material flux rates across model variations.

Main Results:

• No consistent relationship was found between the stability of original and proportionalized ecological models.
• Alternative model formulations significantly shape stability properties, despite identical biomass and flux rates.
• Findings challenge the direct application of empirical food web model stability to regime shift dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Bridging food web and regime shift theories requires careful consideration of modeling assumptions.
• The choice of functional response terms in ecological models impacts stability analysis.
• Further research is needed to reconcile different modeling approaches for a comprehensive understanding of ecosystem dynamics.